2020 Mazda3 Houses Bass Speakers In Very Unusual Location CarBuzz News Features New Cars Used Cars Sell My Car Shopping Tools Car Reviews Car Finder Compare Cars Best Cars Car Dealerships Used Car Reviews Car Advice Home News 2020 Mazda3 Houses Bass Speakers In Very Unusual Location

2020 Mazda3 Houses Bass Speakers In Very Unusual Location

Dec. 30, 2018 11:10 AM ET by Jared Rosenholtz / 2 Comments Look around the interior, we bet you won't find it. When the 2020 Mazda3 made its debut at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show, there were a lot of discussions circulating about its revolutionary SkyActiv-X engine and its somewhat polarizing styling. Unfortunately, the SkyActive-X engine won't be available at launch, so Mazda needs to find other interesting items to talk about. Speaking with AutoGuide, Mazda3 program manager, Kouta Beppu, said his favorite feature on the new car is actually the audio system. It may not be as interesting as a game-changing internal combustion engine but the Mazda3's audio system is hiding some impressive secrets. When building the new Mazda3, the engineers drastically changed the location of the bass speaker. It is now mounted outside of the car's interior. "Why did we do that?" asked Beppu. Most normal low-frequency speakers are located in the door panels, "We've found out is it's very difficult to get the good-quality sound of the bass to the passengers." It's a bit difficult to picture exactly where the bass speaker is mounted. In fact, it can't even be seen without some disassembly. Mazda mounted the bass speaker into a cavity under the fender and behind the front wheel. "But thanks to that we've been able to drastically improve the dynamic range of the sound system." Mazda Mazda With the new placement of the bass speaker, the high-frequency tweeters mounted at the base of the A-pillars won't be distorted. "If you reflect [high frequencies] off some surface there's diffraction, meaning that you lose a lot of the energy and therefore you lose the clarity," Beppu explained. "And when we finished with the development and we got the test drives done by executives and other departments the first thing they said when they get out is, 'The audio system is really good.'" We assume they liked the way the car drove too.

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Mazda 3 Sedan Jared Rosenholtz Editor-at-Large After graduating with an MBA, Jared pursued his love of cars by becoming an automotive journalist. An internship with CarBuzz grew into his current position as Editor At Large. Jared now spends most of his time evaluating new vehicles and chasing the latest news stories in the automotive industry. When he’s not attending Cars & Coffee events on the weekend, Jared loves to watch NFL football and cruise around with the top down in his German convertible. Contact Jared @Carsnbites @jar_rosenholtz LoginSign Up Home News Features Car Reviews Car Advice 2021 CarBuzz Awards New Cars Used Cars Future Cars Compare Cars Sell My Car Car Dealerships Buy Here Pay Here Used Car Reviews Popular Tags Cars # Video # TOP # Spy Shots # Reveal # Rumor # Auto Show # Supercar # Tuning # Car Culture # Industry News # Motorsport Acura Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Bollinger Bugatti Buick Cadillac Caterham Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Fisker Ford Genesis GMC Hennessey Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Karma Kia Koenigsegg Lamborghini Land Rover Lexus Lincoln Lordstown Lotus Lucid Motors Maserati Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Pagani Polestar Porsche Ram Rimac Rivian Rolls-Royce Spyker Subaru Tesla Toyota Volkswagen Volvo By Make Acura Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Audi Bentley BMW Bollinger Bugatti Buick Cadillac Caterham Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Fisker Ford Genesis GMC Hennessey Honda Hyundai Infiniti Jaguar Jeep Karma Kia Koenigsegg Lamborghini Land Rover Lexus Lincoln Lordstown Lotus Lucid Motors Maserati Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Mini Mitsubishi Nissan Pagani Polestar Porsche Ram Rimac Rivian Rolls-Royce Spyker Subaru Tesla Toyota Volkswagen Volvo By Car Type SUVs Crossovers Sedans Coupes Trucks Sports Cars Wagons Vans Hatchbacks Convertibles Small Cars Luxury Cars Electric Cars Hybrid Cars Future Cars By Price Up to $15K $15K - $25K $25K - $35K $35K - $45K $45K - $55K $55K - $75K $75K - $100K $100K - $200K $200K - $300K Above $300K Back To Top